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Time lapse of the rift pulling apart would be incredible. I'm not sure what you're thinking; this is literally a once in a lifetime event. Why talk people out o

Time lapse of the rift pulling apart would be incredible. I'm not sure what you're thinking; this is literally a once in a lifetime event. Why talk people out of getting excited about it?

lisper 9y ago
Talking people out of getting excited about it was not actually my intention, but since you ask: it is important not to lose sight of the fact that this event is actually a very ominous portent for the future of the planet. Getting excited about it is kind of like a dinosaur getting excited about watching the Chicxulub asteroid hit, albeit in super slo-mo.
- URSpider94 9y ago
  I feel that those of us in the sciences need to be careful about making too much of this event in the public sphere. While I agree that this is a sign of very bad things to come, this particular calving is not likely to have any immediate impact on sea levels (since the ice is already floating). If we all jump up and down and scream and then ... nothing happens ... it's not going to help our credibility.
  - lisper 9y ago
    Yes, I completely agree. We should not be jumping up and down and screaming about how horrible this is. But we should also not be jumping up and down and screaming about how cool it is either. Yes, it's cool. But celebrating it is IMHO missing the broader point rather badly.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    I wished there were fewer, not more interesting and exciting developments such as these happening. Because something is happening, it is just not sexy on the time-scale of the average news cycle.
    - URSpider94 9y ago
      Yup, I wish this were not our reality.
  - codecamper 9y ago
    Yes, we should wait until the actual end of the world to warn every one. Brilliant.
    - fao_ 9y ago
      You haven't heard the story about the person who 'cried wolf'?
    - URSpider94 9y ago
      I'll share a lesson that I learned the hard way, and which I share with all of my team members: communication is not successful unless the recipient ends up with the desired information. If you care about achieving that goal, then it's your responsibility to find the right method to get the point across. It's clear that all of the communication about global warming so far has led to ... the USA pulling out of the Paris Accord. So, let's pause and re-evaluate how to get the message across.
- jsmthrowaway 9y ago
  And if the dinosaurs had cell phones, the video would be incredible. It's worth documenting and an exciting event. That doesn't mean I or anyone else is saying whee, celebrate, the world is ending; it means we have an opportunity to watch the evolution of the planet unfold in front of us and we have the technology and opportunity to capture it for future generations, as opposed to the dinosaur extinction event. You're conflating that opportunity, which is exciting, with celebrating the event itself because you think my position isn't taking it seriously. We can do both.
  - erikpukinskis 9y ago
    I think some conflation is necessary. If I shoot a rod into a pig's head, I can stop and admire the pressure canister, the design of the fitting, the refinement of the action, the elegance of an instant death. But to say that it's wrong to be excited still makes sense. You're taking a life to nourish yourself. It's a sacred moment. Similar here, yes the ice sheet is beautiful and it is a gift we are alive to see the planet changing. But the changes signify a huge swath of our species dying, a huge swath of our ecologies being sent back to a distant era in time. Some respect is warranted, for what we are killing so that we might nourish ourselves.
    - nonbel 9y ago
      Where is everyone getting the idea this is related to climate change (any more so than any other event)? That seems to be made up (see my post above).
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- nonbel 9y ago
  > 'this event is actually a very ominous portent for the future of the planet.' As I noted earlier, the people who study this rift do not agree with you: > 'I've found the coverage of this Larsen C rift to be disquieting since I read that the people studying it don't link the event to climate change: "The team say they have no evidence to link the growth of this rift, and the eventual calving, to climate change." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170602112819.h.. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170602112819.h.... It seems that everyone in the media or commenting on the internet suddenly knows better than the experts on this topic.' https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14576772 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14576772
  - rosser 9y ago
    Yeah, dude, you don't get to take the carefully phrased, deliberately hedged, so as not to claim a finding which wasn't even studied language that scientists use in their research as a matter of principle, and argue that it means anything but that. All that says, in essence, is "We haven't studied that question specifically". It's even followed by: > However, it is widely accepted that warming ocean and atmospheric temperatures have been a factor in earlier disintegrations of ice shelves elsewhere on the Antarctic Peninsula, most notably Larsen A (1995) and Larsen B (2002). They point out that this is one of the fastest warming places on Earth, a feature which will certainly not have hindered the development of the rift in Larsen C. Out-of-context, incomplete quoting is a terribly disingenuous debating tactic.
    - nonbel 9y ago
      >"We haven't studied that question specifically". I really don't find this plausible. This is obviously a huge event getting tons of news coverage that they have been waiting for, for many years. Climate change is also a huge important topic that it is obvious to link to this one. Despite all this, you want to interpret their phrase as "we didn't get around to checking for that yet", just so you can go on with your beliefs.
      - rosser 9y ago

Time lapse of the rift pulling apart would be incredible. I'm not sure what you're thinking; this is literally a once in a lifetime event. Why talk people out of getting excited about it?

lisper 9y ago

Talking people out of getting excited about it was not actually my intention, but since you ask: it is important not to lose sight of the fact that this event is actually a very ominous portent for the future of the planet. Getting excited about it is kind of like a dinosaur getting excited about watching the Chicxulub asteroid hit, albeit in super slo-mo.

URSpider94 9y ago
I feel that those of us in the sciences need to be careful about making too much of this event in the public sphere. While I agree that this is a sign of very bad things to come, this particular calving is not likely to have any immediate impact on sea levels (since the ice is already floating). If we all jump up and down and scream and then ... nothing happens ... it's not going to help our credibility.
- lisper 9y ago
  Yes, I completely agree. We should not be jumping up and down and screaming about how horrible this is. But we should also not be jumping up and down and screaming about how cool it is either. Yes, it's cool. But celebrating it is IMHO missing the broader point rather badly.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  I wished there were fewer, not more interesting and exciting developments such as these happening. Because something is happening, it is just not sexy on the time-scale of the average news cycle.
  - URSpider94 9y ago
    Yup, I wish this were not our reality.
- codecamper 9y ago
  Yes, we should wait until the actual end of the world to warn every one. Brilliant.
  - fao_ 9y ago
    You haven't heard the story about the person who 'cried wolf'?
  - URSpider94 9y ago
    I'll share a lesson that I learned the hard way, and which I share with all of my team members: communication is not successful unless the recipient ends up with the desired information. If you care about achieving that goal, then it's your responsibility to find the right method to get the point across. It's clear that all of the communication about global warming so far has led to ... the USA pulling out of the Paris Accord. So, let's pause and re-evaluate how to get the message across.
jsmthrowaway 9y ago
And if the dinosaurs had cell phones, the video would be incredible. It's worth documenting and an exciting event. That doesn't mean I or anyone else is saying whee, celebrate, the world is ending; it means we have an opportunity to watch the evolution of the planet unfold in front of us and we have the technology and opportunity to capture it for future generations, as opposed to the dinosaur extinction event. You're conflating that opportunity, which is exciting, with celebrating the event itself because you think my position isn't taking it seriously. We can do both.
- erikpukinskis 9y ago
  I think some conflation is necessary. If I shoot a rod into a pig's head, I can stop and admire the pressure canister, the design of the fitting, the refinement of the action, the elegance of an instant death. But to say that it's wrong to be excited still makes sense. You're taking a life to nourish yourself. It's a sacred moment. Similar here, yes the ice sheet is beautiful and it is a gift we are alive to see the planet changing. But the changes signify a huge swath of our species dying, a huge swath of our ecologies being sent back to a distant era in time. Some respect is warranted, for what we are killing so that we might nourish ourselves.
  - nonbel 9y ago
    Where is everyone getting the idea this is related to climate change (any more so than any other event)? That seems to be made up (see my post above).
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
nonbel 9y ago
> 'this event is actually a very ominous portent for the future of the planet.' As I noted earlier, the people who study this rift do not agree with you: > 'I've found the coverage of this Larsen C rift to be disquieting since I read that the people studying it don't link the event to climate change: "The team say they have no evidence to link the growth of this rift, and the eventual calving, to climate change." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170602112819.h.. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170602112819.h.... It seems that everyone in the media or commenting on the internet suddenly knows better than the experts on this topic.' https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14576772 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14576772
- rosser 9y ago
  Yeah, dude, you don't get to take the carefully phrased, deliberately hedged, so as not to claim a finding which wasn't even studied language that scientists use in their research as a matter of principle, and argue that it means anything but that. All that says, in essence, is "We haven't studied that question specifically". It's even followed by: > However, it is widely accepted that warming ocean and atmospheric temperatures have been a factor in earlier disintegrations of ice shelves elsewhere on the Antarctic Peninsula, most notably Larsen A (1995) and Larsen B (2002). They point out that this is one of the fastest warming places on Earth, a feature which will certainly not have hindered the development of the rift in Larsen C. Out-of-context, incomplete quoting is a terribly disingenuous debating tactic.
  - nonbel 9y ago
    >"We haven't studied that question specifically". I really don't find this plausible. This is obviously a huge event getting tons of news coverage that they have been waiting for, for many years. Climate change is also a huge important topic that it is obvious to link to this one. Despite all this, you want to interpret their phrase as "we didn't get around to checking for that yet", just so you can go on with your beliefs.
    - rosser 9y ago